I am so excited to be starting my 4th year here at St. Paul! This is my 17th year as a professional educator and my second experience in an international school. It is also my 11th year as a school administrator. Before joining St. Paul, I served as a principal, assistant principal, and athletic director at three other schools.
My vision is to make St. Paul the best it can be—academically, socially, extracurricularly, and culturally. I am committed to fostering high standards and high achievement within a rigorous yet supportive environment. I want every student to be challenged, every staff member to feel valued, and every parent to trust in the quality of our school. Together, we will build a community where excellence and well-being go hand in hand.
I was born and raised in rural western Nebraska, in the United States. I attended a small high school and participated in a number of sports and extracurricular activities. I played three years of American football at a small university but was unsure of my career path. After leaving university, I worked a variety of jobs, including serving part-time for eight years in the Nebraska Army National Guard as a helicopter avionics mechanic. Eventually, I returned to university to become a teacher, following in the footsteps of both my parents, who were longtime educators in my hometown.
I graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Nebraska-Omaha with a Bachelor of Science in Education, certified in Social Sciences and Coaching for grades 7–12. I then taught high school social studies for six years, while also coaching boys’ and girls’ basketball and American football. As my career progressed, I earned two advanced degrees from Wayne State College: a Master of Science in Education with 7–12 Principal certification, and an Education Specialist degree, which qualifies me for administrative roles at all levels from PK–12, including head of school.
I have a wonderful wife of almost 19 years, Stephanie, who teaches high school social studies here at SPASH. We met 20 years ago—before I had ever traveled internationally or even flown on a commercial airplane. Since then, we’ve traveled to over 30 countries and lived abroad in Morocco for four years before moving to Hanoi. I feel incredibly fortunate to share my life with her, along with our dog Luna, who has lived on three continents, and our younger dog Spike, who we rescued from the streets of Hanoi. I enjoy spending time with Stephanie and our dogs, reading, working out, and traveling.
I’ve been a principal for over 10 years now and this is the best principal job I’ve ever had. The students here are amazing. The teachers are amazing. Vietnam is amazing. This is an awesome place to be…
…We always counsel our students and families to look for the best fit university for that child. We are very well equipped to give students the opportunities to get into those top universities. I think our record speaks for itself with the number of Ivy League schools, the top schools in Korea, the top schools in Singapore that we get kids into every year.
The reason students are successful is because we have a holistic and rigorous academic experience where students are challenged on the academic side. They’re allowed to be involved in clubs and student-led clubs that can improve their CV during the school day.
Our students have a lot of opportunities for AP courses. A lot of American universities as well will give college credit if the students achieve a certain score on the exam and so students can actually earn university credit while they’re in high school.
We balance the high expectations we have at St. Paul with student well-being in a number of different ways. We have an advisory curriculum that students have weekly and that focuses on things like social emotional learning, dealing with conflict, career planning, university preparation, and all those things can lead to less anxiety and better social emotional well-being for our students. We want to teach students how to think. We don’t want to teach them what to think. Our teachers encourage students to voice their opinions in class, to try to encourage them to think outside the box, to look at different ways of thinking of things, not just one way.
Elite athletic training actually started during Covid as a way for students and teachers to be able to work out when they were in lockdown. And the course evolved into an actual class during the school day and students are challenged athletically to be the best athlete they can be. And the way that can help students academically is that because a lot of American universities, especially, are very competitive in their admissions, students who are athletes, that can give them a leg up in the admissions process.
We’ve really worked intentionally to build a positive and welcoming school culture while at the same time being a rigorous experience that is getting these amazing results in universities. I’m really proud to be a part of St. Paul American School Hanoi.
